As Chairman of the Hoboken Housing Authority, I am pleased to say that our past several board meetings have been filled with healthy debate and occasionally contentious discussion over a wide variety of important issues. I think I speak for the entire Reform majority when I say debate and even friction are positive attributes of a governing body that’s doing its job properly and digging into the hard work of hashing out the issues and making informed decisions. I do not wince at serious, meaty engagement with my fellow commissioners -- I welcome it.

Unfortunately, at our last meeting, Housing Authority Commissioner Eduardo Gonzalez took an important discussion about an auditing proposal and digressed into what appeared to be a preplanned "made for television" statement that falsely and inappropriately introduced false, counterproductive allegations of ethnic bias.

The Hoboken Housing Authority is at a critical juncture right now, with a number of pivotal issues coming before the board with high stakes and consequential outcomes that will be felt for generations. The work ahead is serious business requiring a sober and intellectually honest approach.

Commissioner Gonzalez said the Housing Authority board leadership has become an extension of the policies of the Zimmer administration and Reform majority on the City Council. On that point, I agree with him 100 percent. However, I do not share his view that it is an opening for criticism. I wear it as a badge of honor. Reform leadership in Hoboken government has yielded countless improvements in operational efficiency, routing of corruption, nationally recognized innovation and improvements in people’s lives.

The Housing Authority is the third-largest budget in Hoboken, and the only one that has yet to undergo the audits and professionalization that have produced so many positive changes at City Hall and the Board of Education. I encourage Commissioner Gonzalez to recognize that change has arrived at the Housing Authority, and while his cooperation will be welcomed, his obstruction will not be tolerated.

Nice job by jake. I just luv the old guard knucklehead who keeps posting the same dumb comment here and on patch. Change has arrived and corruption is going bye bye, guess the old guard will have to move out of town.

You have to be the most ignorant poster on here where do you get that firethemall is for the old guard from what he wrote. He is against them and against corruption a five year old can read his comment and come to this conclusion. The only one for the OG here is you, or you just plain dumb....

FIRETHEMALL

|

January 23, 2013

There will never be change in the HHA until they fire them all and start fresh. There is to much corruption and mishandling of the HHA budget. Look it has been over 90 days since the super storm sandy hit and the people living in the HHA "Projects" don't have any heat still, and look at the below zero wind chill weather we are having.The committee is made up of pure scam artist. Yea lets build a baseball field and state change, bs there not doing anything down there but putting up some fresh paint jobs and calling it rebuilding. The HHA is even trying to enforce a force work program, stating to residents if they don't work for free for HHA they will be evicted. This needs to be investigated, these people pay rent on close to nothing incomes, most are disabled seniors, or single mothers with infants and the HHA want to force this upon them, can anyone say slave labor. So what do they want the poor resident to paint,clean up and rebuild the HHA "projects" so the budget money proposed for the jobs get pocketed. That is so corrupt, and the HHA board continues to get away with their corrupt actions do to an uneducated HHA resident population who have no clue how to fight for their rights or even speak english to be able to. Fire them all get a thorough investigation done, prosecute those who have wronged the community and start fresh.

There will never be change in the HHA until they fire them all and start fresh. There is to much corruption and mishandling of the HHA budget. Look it has been over 90 days since the super storm sandy hit and the people living in the HHA "Projects" don't have any heat still, and look at the below zero wind chill weather we are having.The committee is made up of pure scam artist. Yea lets build a baseball field and state change, bs there not doing anything down there but putting up some fresh paint jobs and calling it rebuilding. The HHA is even trying to enforce a force work program, stating to residents if they don't work for free for HHA they will be evicted. This needs to be investigated, these people pay rent on close to nothing incomes, most are disabled seniors, or single mothers with infants and the HHA want to force this upon them, can anyone say slave labor. So what do they want the poor resident to paint,clean up and rebuild the HHA "projects" so the budget money proposed for the jobs get pocketed. That is so corrupt, and the HHA board continues to get away with their corrupt actions due to an uneducated HHA resident population who have no clue how to fight for their rights or even speak English to be able to. Fire them all get a thorough investigation done, prosecute those who have wronged the community and start fresh.